It can make you laugh, it can make you cry, it can make you scared, it can make you feel loved, it can be loud, quiet, magical and life changing; but it can also be bad. Until the last
decade, children’s theatre has had more than its fair share of the bad. However, the Cinderella of the theatre world has been gradually emerging and has now found her way through the stage door and on to the stage. The sheer breadth and quality of what is being performed in the capital today is uplifting and exciting.

There is a sense of drama even as you approach the Unicorn Theatre near London Bridge, with its huge double glass fronted double height foyer complete with a rampant Unicorn. Emma Thompson, one of the theatre’s patrons, explains “I go a lot because of the immensely high quality production of the work. It would satisfy the poshest theatre critics and has an immense power and magic about it.”

Although the new theatre has only been open for three years, the company was founded 60 years ago and was the first young people’s theatres in Britain. It is one of four theatres in London that exclusively programme for children.

The Unicorn has a passionate commitment to new writing and most of their work is new commissions. “It’s at the heart of everything we do: new voices, new worlds, new experiences” says Rosamunde Hutt, Associate Artistic Director. “The plays deal with issues concerning rites of passages, big transitions that happen in children’s lives, going to a new school, losing a relative, falling in love. They also tackle big contemporary issues.”

The Unicorn is also developing its own language and way of working with actors and now has a dedicated troupe of 6 actors. “We have a very actor-based style” explains Hutt “the actors play lots of different parts, old play young, young play old, men play women and women play men. It is very fluid.”

One of the oldest theatres for children is the Polka in Wimbledon, which started as a touring company in 1967 and opened its own space in 1979. It has a Main Theatre for four to thirteen year olds and a Studio, with programmes exclusively for the under fives. The Polka has six shows a year, often adaptations of well-known, established stories. Artistic Director Jonathan Lloyd explains “we are faithful to the material and like telling a good story that moves people, but we seek to make theatre that is entertaining and fun.” It helps that they get great writers to work with them – Michael Rosen has adapted Pinocchio for the Christmas show – and “we add a little playfulness and a sense of mischief to everything we do”. Productions at the Polka bed in for a decent run – generally about three
months – and there is a Saturday morning programme of visiting work for the under fives.

Jonathan finds that owning their own building gives them a lot of scope. “The Polka is always bustling and busy; the café’s open most of the time; there’s a reading corner; a playground; small garden; a dressing up corner which means people come early for a show and stay and play after”

The magical Little Angel Theatre in Islington is the home of British puppetry. A disused Temperance hall, converted in 1961, it houses both the 100-seater performance space and workshops where all the Little Angel’s new productions and puppets are developed, carved and constructed. One of the theatre’s key aims is to “raise the profile of the art form and to offer a range of work using both classical and contemporary puppetry” explains Artistic Director, Peter Glanville

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Revivals of original marionette puppet shows such as the Little Mermaid and Sleeping Beauty (where the puppets are on strings and manipulated from above so you don’t see the puppeteer) use the original puppets hand carved by the theatre’s founder John [father of Joe] Wright. They also have contemporary puppetry both their own productions and other, mainly British, puppetry companies. Watch out for the Giraffe, the Pelly and Me this Christmas. Whatever style, the experience of puppetry is fascinating. Glanville thinks “it is to do with the magic of life, when we see a puppet brought to life something in us is touched by a sense of the miraculous, extraordinary and beautiful.” It really is the ultimate in suspended disbelief; one little boy was heard to say after a show ‘where did they get the giants from?’

London’s final permanent children’s theatre catering for a broad spectrum of communities, is the Half Moon Young People’s Theatre in East London whose work is always bi-lingual, incorporating sign language into all their plays. A 100-seater studio theatre with cushions and benches, it is an intimate space where actors often work in the round, or in the audience. All shows have the added benefit of costing a flat rate of £5, children and adults.

As well as these permanent spaces, there are some wonderful travelling companies that regularly perform across town and are worth seeking out. Children’s theatre in ‘adult’ theatres is also on the up and the ‘mainstream’ theatres listed above have imaginative children’s programmes built into their schedules.